


Finest Work

by kylogram



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Brainwashing, Child Abuse, Gen, M/M, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:58:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6499897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylogram/pseuds/kylogram
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People knew that stormtroopers were kidnapped as children and tortured into becoming soldiers, but they did their best to pretend they didn't. Now, the Resistance would be able to prove it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leia

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for the [kink meme](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/3961.html?thread=8290169#cmt8290169).
> 
> Prompt in full in the end notes. Please read the prompt beforehand to know what you might run into here. I will update the notes with each chapter (this is a WP and I'm expecting 8 parts), however, for now, general tw for child abuse in every way except sexual (although there might be references to non-con in adulthood), violence, original character deaths, brainwashing, being locked up, isolation, animals, aliens and androids getting hurt although not full-on gore.
> 
> Thank you.

The labels make the records seem almost educational. In a way they are, this has been the single most important piece of intel that the Resistance has managed to get their hands on in the past decade.

There have been plenty of rumors, however, nothing has been confirmed yet. People know that stormtroopers are kidnapped as children and tortured into becoming soldiers, but they do their best to pretend they don't. Now, the Resistance will be able to prove it, and with the moral outrage across the galaxy, they might get the support to defeat the First Order once and for all.

Leia can’t help but scoff at that, it feels so sanitized and corporate; using a vid-record to prove that their idea is worth funding... that was probably what got the program started decades earlier. The fact that it would be the same broadcast would be funny if it wasn't for its expected contents.

Everybody stares at Leia expectantly, it has been a good twenty minutes since they agreed that they needed to watch the vid-record. She asked everyone to leave, except for Jessika, Poe and Rey. She’s glad she didn’t need to ask Finn to leave, since he is still in recovery. It would have felt hypocritical, but there is no way she’ll put him through that. She gives a curt nod then and Poe starts the broadcast.

The recording starts with a narrator, speaking over wide shots displaying thousands upon thousands of stormtroopers standing to attention. The program was launched nearly twenty years ago, but this portion of the video is not more than five years old. It seems as though this broadcast is almost celebratory, rather than clinical. It isn’t just the laboratory record of their experiments, it reeks of triumph. Rey feels a wave of nausea at that.

 _"This broadcast recounts the use of Subject 0 to design the most effective training methods, prior to the launch of the program. The subject joined the program at the age of 19 months and was considered appropriately programmed by the age of 11 years and four months, when he was sent to the First Order Academy as he was considered fit to become an official. He was brought in for reconditioning at the age of thirteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty three and twenty eight."_  Poe's lip twitches at that, it hadn’t occurred to him that the first subject of the program would be roughly his own age. Somehow, it makes it all the more terrifying.

The recording continues, showing the barracks full of children, toddlers and seven year olds alike in bunks in endless rooms, with no discerning possessions other than the plaques with their identifying data.  _"With careful planning and execution, we have managed to commence training on soldiers as young as eight months old, and as old as three years and a half, with a success rate of 63% and an average training time of merely six years and seven months. Allowing all our soldiers to be fully psychologically and emotionally programmed by the age of ten when the focus shifts towards building up their physical strength, speed and resistance as they develop into adults."_

 _"They're so small,"_  Pava gasps, covering her mouth as shots that seem to be triumphant show pairs of children fighting each other viciously, one by one, covered in blood and bruises, before displaying a general view of an endless pristine hall, where thousands of such pairs can be seen at once.

 _'Ben was that small,'_  Leia's mind offers before she can swat it away, not before causing her to miss the rest of the introductory boasting, before being confronted with a far different recording quality, and an entirely different voice behind the scenes.

The lighting in the recording has a blue eerie tint to it and the coldness of the voice already has Rey breaking out in goosebumps. The image displays a simple room, or more accurately, a large cell with a cot, a toilet, a sink and no windows.

_"Day 0, 0700 hours. First encounter with Subject 0. Subject is a male human, 19 months of age. Subject has the ability to talk, walk and follow simple commands. First milestone will be training the subject to identify itself..."_

_"He called him 'it',"_  Rey's voice is so tiny and sad that Pava reaches back and puts her hand on Rey's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

The recording is still showing the empty room, and the voice meanwhile describes the procedure that they plan to follow. The words spoken are precise and have none of the prideful triumph of the introduction. This is science, not celebration. The man isn’t sure yet if what he is doing will work, that means all the cruelty that is bound to be seen, at the time, was senseless.

Poe squeezes his own fists so hard it hurts, he has thought about it but now it is real. Finn may not have had a name when he met him, but depending on when they took him, maybe he had had a name before.

The camera stays fixed as the man shuffles and then appears in front of the camera, holding a small, red haired toddler by the arm. He walks a bit too fast for the child and so he is almost dragging him, then, once the child is placed in the middle of the cell, the man lets go of him, which makes the kid stumble and fall flat on his bottom, prompting a giggle.

 _"You are subject 0, you have no rank. Soldier, identify yourself and state your rank,"_  the child only looks up at the man with big bright eyes and rosy cheeks, reaching up with a grabby hand while the other one goes straight into his mouth.

 _"Rank?! How is he going to know what he means by rank?! He's a baby!"_  Pava yells, gesturing towards the screen in barely contained rage and exasperation.

 _"You are subject 0, you have no rank. Soldier, identify yourself and state your rank,"_  Poe is furrowing his eyebrows, the child is looking up at the man with absolute trust and curiosity, unaware of the environment of imminent violence that reigns in the recording.

 _"You are subject 0, you have no rank. Soldier, identify yourself and state your rank,"_  Rey has fisted her hands and has pressed them against her mouth, as if in hiding, and then, the gargling stops as the little boy starts shuffling to stand on his own.

 _"Da-da!"_  the little boy chirps, only to get a backhanded slap that flings him towards the wall and makes Rey cry out in shock.

The child can be seen crying and confused as he tries to make sense of what happened but the voice of the man gives no indication of anything having changed as he, once again, says,  _"You are subject 0, you have no rank. Soldier, identify yourself and state your rank."_


	2. Poe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Pause it,” Leia says suddenly and Poe’s reflexes respond immediately. The frozen frame on the screen is that of the tiny child —now maybe three years old— clear tear tracks on his face. Just out of frame, the unmistakable figure of his father.
> 
> “Close it,” Leia amends after a couple of seconds and Poe complies. Leia adds then, in a dry tone despite the warmth of the words, “It’s late, you should go get something to eat. We’ll finish watching tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone for the amazing kindness showed towards this. It is ridiculously difficult to write, and it is difficult to read even for me so you have no idea how much I appreciate it.
> 
> I'm so humbled by all the lovely comments and hope that this lives up to the expectations. I have now structured everything and indeed, it'll be 8 parts. As you may have noticed, I write very tightly, I wish I could write more extensively but I can't manage to. Hope that although the parts are short, they're worth the wait.
> 
> This chapter is very gruesome, it features animal death and some gore, please tread with care. If you really cannot handle that, [here](http://teddy-grohl.tumblr.com/post/143087329241/more-pause-it-leia-says-suddenly-and-poes) is a censored version that skips that part but is still kinda brutal. 
> 
> Thank you again for everything.

_“Pause it,”_ Leia says suddenly and Poe’s reflexes respond immediately. The frozen frame on the screen is that of the tiny child —now maybe three years old— as he cowers against the corner of the room, dirty or bruised, thin, looking up in terror, clear tear tracks on his face. Just out of frame, the unmistakable figure of his father.

 _“Close it,”_ Leia amends after a couple of seconds and Poe complies, dipping the room in darkness and silence, only interrupted by their stuttered breaths and illuminated only by the dim lights from the console. Leia adds then, in a dry tone despite the warmth of the words, _“It’s late, you should go get something to eat. We’ll finish watching tomorrow.”_

Poe recognizes that tone; he’s heard it before. It’s the tone Leia uses when she chooses to carry a burden herself. It’s half despair and half determination; it’s the type of sorrow only heroes get to have. It’s the tone she uses when she says she’ll be the one to tell a pilot’s family that they didn’t make it back; it’s the tone that she used when he was just a boy and Ben couldn’t come out to play on a given day.

He figures that no matter how much you love the galaxy, how much light there is in you, when it teaches you over and over that you have to be stronger than anyone and everyone, that you have to do the things others can’t, even when you too feel you can’t... he thinks she’s earned the right to be resentful. He also thinks she shouldn’t have to think she’s still alone.

 _“Yes, General,”_ is all he says as he stands and makes way for Rey and Pava.

He hates disobeying the General, but he can’t stop himself from sneaking back into the room after leaving Jessika and Rey by the kitchen. They know what he’s doing—they are grateful they don’t have to do it themselves.

It has only been a few minutes, but the kid on screen is now about five years old. The same heroic voice from before gives a quick rundown of the things that aren’t on screen. The video shows a crying child —crushed under a boot, getting his head pushed under water, being held too close to a fire, being questioned while a blaster points at his head, getting blades and needles pushed into his skin—, the proud voice describes a near supernatural ability to withstand torture.

The child in the broadcast cries out, begging for mercy from his dad—the narrating man says that any training shortcomings borne out of compassion from parental figures is now possible to be avoided through the use of machines designed by the man himself.

The broadcast doesn’t slow down, doesn’t flinch in its displays. It’s brutal, it’s never-ending. The narrator states almost clinically, _“Our program’s approach to the buildup of loyalty to the First Order relies on the severing of emotional ties that do not serve the purposes of our mission. This is done through very specific methods that have been perfected throughout the years.”_

On screen the boy must now be about seven. The room is still as dim and empty as always, but there is a small creature, an alien furry thing that Poe recognizes as a pet. The kid is playing with it and Poe barely manages to stop himself from feeling touched. The ominous voice over of the child’s father helps with that.

 _“Subject 0 has been bonding with a loth-cat specimen for four months and seven days, ever since it was old enough to survive without its mother. Subject 0 has not had contact with any other sentient being aside from the Trainer since the start of its training, five years and eight months ago. The protocol to reprogram attachment starts today: Day 2061.”_ Poe steals a glance towards the General, and sees her take a sip from the flask everybody pretends not to know she has. It’s never been a problem, nobody is perfect, she deserves some slack—he has a litany of reasons why it’s just fine.

The voice continues and explains the plan. The child will not receive food nor drink. The running water from his sink will be reduced gradually until nothing comes out. The trainer will be missing entirely until _something_ happens. The loth-cat has a small door through which it can go in and out of the cage and obtain food. The door is just the right amount of too small for the child to go through. If he tries to peek through it or reach with his hand, he will receive electric shocks. The last sentence of the speech makes it all the worse, _“We are currently unable to predict what will be the end result, but should this result in life-threatening illness of injury for Subject 0, it shall be treated and attachment training shall be restarted, if required, after thorough memory cleansing.”_

What the voice described happens on screen, a short montage of clips. The child crying due to hunger curled up in bed, calling for the trainer who he no longer calls ‘dad’. Hurting his shoulders and face as he tries to get through the cat-door, despite the electric shocks he is receiving. Time-lapses that show he lies on the floor just a few inches away from the door waiting for hours upon hours for his pet to return. The way he inspects the furry animal’s body thoroughly, trying to find some food stuck on him; the way he will even inspect the animal’s mouth. The way he goes from drinking from the tap to drinking from the water deposit of the toilet until it runs out, to trying to filter his urine but finding the environment won’t allow it, to giving up and drinking his own pee.

It is day twenty-three of the protocol—2083 of his training, day six without a source of water—that with the look of horror of someone too dehydrated to cry, and impossibly quiet, he approaches the sleeping form of his loth-cat and chokes him to death. According to the timestamps in the video, it takes him six more hours to dare to cut him open and start to eat. The kid, whose manners have not dwindled in all the years of solitude, is crouching on the floor, arms covered in blood as he rips apart the dead animal, his face is covered in blood too, sometimes he bends down and bites directly—like a beast.

The child is sobbing and gagging as he eats, and from his spot, Poe has noticed Leia looking away for the past few minutes. The sequence is far too long, the sounds brutal and horrifying, and then the proud voice of the trainer comes back, boasting about results that surpassed expectations. He says it was three days more until the water supply was reestablished. He says Subject 0 never talked about the loth-cat again.

Leia stops the video, a shuddering breath cutting through the room before she swallows and calls clearly, _“Poe?”_

He should be ashamed, but he is too shaken for that, too raw. _"Yes, General?,"_ is all he says as he approaches the console, to stand right behind the royal woman he has admired all his life.

 _"Do they know we have this?",_  Leia looks up at him, and she’s much older, much more fragile than he always thinks she is.

It’s clear what she means, but he can’t help but think about how even without context, he always knows that _they_ means the First Order. Like _he_ has always meant Ben—even when her husband and her brother were also lost and unreachable—, the _he_ out there, somewhere in the galaxy, has always been Ben.

 _"We aren’t sure, General,"_ he replies truthfully. They got this in a big stroke of luck, no bloodshed. They might not be aware at all; they may have even planned for them to see it.

Leia nods slowly, and looks towards the floor for several seconds before she speaks again. She simply says, " _Make sure he knows."_

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Post-TFA, the Resistance manages to steal a cache of high-security electronic records that detail the intricacies of the Stormtrooper indoctrination program, as designed by Brendol Hux Sr. Among said documents is a file on 'Subject 0', the initial candidate for the program. 
> 
> When they open the vid-record, they're confronted with a tiny, smiling ginger waving happily at the camera, giggling happily about 'playin' wit'  
> Daddy!'. He can't be more then three years old. 
> 
> As the record progresses, he doesn't smile as much. There are bruises. Broken bones. A list of exercises, and the associated punishments. Punishments for not saying 'please'. For having less then perfect diction. Punishments for asking a 'superior officer' to stop, please, it hurts, you're HURTING me, daddy, please - . 
> 
> At the end of the vid-tape, General Hux's face stares back at them. Pristine. Cold. 
> 
> Brendol Hux Sr. was the man who designed the stormtropper program, and he used his son as the initial test subject for literally every indoctrination and 'reconditioning' protocol existent. 
> 
> Not one member of the Resistance can face General Hux without remember that tiny toddler, crying. 
> 
> \+ Kylo discovers the vid-file and goes ballistic.  
> ++ Hux spent his entire life being 'reconditioned' at the slightest excuse. It was only after he received a promotion to a rank higher then that of Brendol Hux Sr that said sessions stopped and he began to form his own personality."


End file.
